 (Stock Photo/Tony Tremblay) After a 54-year gap, Betty Kuhn and Maureen Whiteside have proven what it really means to have a friendship that lasts a lifetime.
A friendship rekindled
By Betty Kuhn
HappyNews Citizen Journalist
FEBRUARY 27, 2006 Every morning I read about all the murder, mayhem and all the political hogwash either in the New York Times or our local newspaper. It is so depressing to always see headlines that are about the terrible things that happen in our country. I have often thought that they should be required to run only good news at least one day each week.
Feeling as I do about negative news filling the newspapers, I was excited when I saw an article about HappyNews.com in our local newspaper. I read the article over and over again. I loved the idea of having something uplifting to read each week, and I wanted to be a part of it. I checked out the Web site and thought it was just right for me. So, I sent an e-mail asking if they would be interested in some of my writing. Well, they responded saying they would like to see an article or two. I sent one they liked, and it was published, “A Christmas Tree and a Hammer.”
I have received many e-mails about the article, and I was excited one day when Happy News sent along an e-mail from someone asking about me. The e-mail asked if the writer of this article was ‘Betty Ayling, who married Wayne Kuhn and used to live in Altadena, CA.?’
What a surprise! I couldn’t wait to shoot back an e-mail that said, “Yes, it is me, it is!”
Someone who had drifted from out of my past had wandered back into my present. What a happy surprise it was to hear from my childhood friend, Maureen Whiteside.
Maureen and I lived just two doors from each other in Altadena, California. We did everything together. We were best friends. How I remember the days we spent sitting on the floor of my bedroom, talking about boys and our dreams for the future. It has been at least 54 years since I heard from Maureen, and I am about as happy as a person can be to hear from her now.
Maureen married the love of her life, Fritz Worland, and she now has three children and a bunch of grandchildren, who are the ‘apple of her eye.’ Fritz and Maureen have been happily married for 52 years. They live on a ranch in Grand Junction, Colorado where they raise horses, cows and dogs.
It seems like only yesterday when Maureen and I dove into a big banana split or popped popcorn in the fireplace as we giggled about something silly. Were we ever that young? Oh! How time does fly.
I have always liked watching Ann Blythe in movies, because Maureen looks so much like her. Every time I see one of her pictures, I think about Maureen. Even though I didn’t know where Maureen was, she was in my thoughts often.
Friendship is like a lovely flower garden, it needs to be fed and cultivated to grow. When we lost touch that didn’t happen, but we have another chance to cultivate our friendship into a beautiful garden once more.
A friendship like ours will last a lifetime. Even though we lost touch with one another, when each of us were married and went our separate ways. Fate has thrown us back together again, thanks to HappyNews … and that is definitely happy news.
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